Eleven years ago, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert brought their show “Good vs. Evil” to the Bay Area. Here's our April 2013 account of the hilarious gig, from the pair's stop at a 7-Eleven on the option to San Jose to Bourdain's cheeky comments (the printable ones!) to the menu an area chef prepared for the duo and their fans. Bourdain died on June 8, 2018.
Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert brought their very candid and really funny show, Good vs. Evil, to the Bay Area over the weekend, and — if the variety of snarky comments and F-bombs that, yes, got here from Ripert is any indication — the devilish Bourdain side wins.
Also unexpected was the comparatively high turnout of foodies: Bourdain, the multitalented enfant terrible of the culinary world, and his multi-Michelin-starred chef friend packed the home in San Jose and sold 2,351 tickets for the show on the Center for the Performing Arts, theater executives said. That's 250 greater than were sold in San Francisco on Friday night.
But the gig on the town gave them the chance to make a Saturday morning pilgrimage to the legendary Swan Oyster Depot for seafood and Sauvignon Blanc. After tweeting the obligatory “Someone knows the way to San Jose,” they headed to the South Bay.
Along the way in which, Bourdain mentioned a plan to torture Ripert with chips and snacks, then asked his Twitter followers if there was a Tex Wasabi's in San Jose. (Bourdain's disdain for Guy Fieri, the owner of Wasabi's and Johnny Garlic's, is known.)
A slight panic broke out amongst South Bay Twitterers. This was not sign for the realm's culinary popularity. Didn't Bourdain and Ripert want to hang around with David Kinch in Manresa? Try out the hip latest food stalls at San Pedro Square Market?
As it seems, there's no time to tailor the show's culinary content to the town of the day. But Bourdain had planned a blind taste test of snacks for the show, so the 2 snacked at a 7-Eleven during their shopping spree, our sources say. (Think about that: Eric Ripert at 7-Eleven. The remainder of us never must feel guilty about succumbing to the occasional Slurpee again.)
Among the printable parts:
— Tit for tat: Bourdain teased Ripert in regards to the snooty name of his New York restaurant Le Bernardin, saying a greater name could be “Eric's, A Place for Fish.” Ripert chided Bourdain for starting his own TV shows after criticizing other chefs who accomplish that as “traitors.”
— If he were stranded on a desert island with three chefs: Ripert said he would select French chef Joel Robuchon, Los Angeles-based Suzanne Goin and native star Kinch. “You're such a (crowd pleaser),” Bourdain replied. His selections fell on Mario Batali for Italian food, sushi master Jiro Ono and Robuchon.
— On the foie gras ban in California: “You've been tricked into looking like rednecks,” said Bourdain. Both said that geese raised in cages for foie gras are treated higher than caged chickens.
— New York vs. San Francisco: These East Coasters prefer New York for its fantastic dining, and Bourdain notes that there are enough very wealthy residents there to support that quality of dining. Ripert said he was surprised that “fine dining in California is much more stuffy these days than in New York.”
When the two-and-a-half-hour show ended, the 2 retired to a VIP after-party to fulfill fans and sign autographs for one more two hours. Joe Cirone of Hay Market Willow Glen was hired as chef and host. He and his team created a menu featuring beef from Fallon Hills Ranch and Duroc pork:
– Flintstone-sized ribs (each 60-90 cm long), oak smoked, roasted and glazed with black garlic and plum barbecue sauce.
— “Red, Blue and Yolk” burger with quail eggs, radicchio and d'Auvergne Roquefort on homemade sourdough buns.
– Oak smoked and pulled beef nachos with pickled Fresno chilies and pasilla cream.
– Candied, homemade hot dogs without skin.
— House-cured guanciale with French breakfast radishes and foie gras butter. (It's OK. They didn't sell the foie gras, which is against the law in California. They gave it away.)
On Sunday morning, Bourdain tweeted a photograph of Ripert eating a breakfast quesadilla on the airport, after which they hit the road. Next stop: Boulder, Colorado, for a show Sunday night.
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